This recipe calls for 3 (edible) ingredients and has more in common with a crafting project than cooking. It will make your family and your dinner guests think you've finally gone too far, until they taste it.

It's called Lomo al Trapo (literally "beef tenderloin in cloth") and it goes a little something like this: Wrap a big hunky piece of filet mignon in two cups of salt sprinkled with dried oregano, tie it in an old rag and throw it in flaming coals. Exactly 19 minutes later you will have dinner. It sounds like a prank, but Steven Raichlen said it was genius, so I tried it. And he's right.

Steven Raichlen has been writing about barbecue for 20+ years, chasing it all over the world. In researching Planet Barbecue, Raichlen traveled to 60 countries, collecting obscure grilling techniques like smoking mussels over pine needles in France, and cooking fish saucy eggs in their shells in Cambodia. (Having accomplished basically everything on the world grilling beat, these days he's writing romance novels).

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He'd be the first to tell you that this recipe isn't his alone -- the method is traditional to several countries in South America, particularly Colombia. But Raichlen translated it for and popularized it among English-speaking barbecue enthusiasts, so we're going with his version.

As Raichlen teaches us, Lomo al Trapo combines two genius techniques, to great effect: grilling in the coals and salt-crusting. Read on below for what each one can do for beef tenderloin, which Raichlen admits is "normally a pretty boring piece of meat."

Grilling in -- not over -- the coals

Cooking bare pieces of meat directly on live coals has something of an underground following in grilling circles.

It was Dwight D. Eisenhower's preferred steak-cooking method; a brief but colorful recipe from 1949 is reprinted in The Essential New York Times Cookbook. The hearth-cooking pioneers at Al Forno in Providence called theirs "dirty steak" because yes, it gets a little ashy, though not as much as you might think. Adam Perry Lang's hot new book on grilling includes an entire chapter on the technique, which he calls "clinching" (a boxing term for holding your opponent within arm's reach, like steak pressed up against coals).

Here, the smokiness -- the rugged ancient sport of it -- is combined with salt-crusting to create a more delicate result.

Salt-crusting

There isn't much to the tenderloin, as muscles go, but a salt crust livens it up in so many ways:

• Naturally, it seasons it -- but not too much. The salt is packed on at the last minute and most of it is brushed away.

• The thick layer of salt seals off the surface, allowing the beef to simultaneously roast and steam in its own juices (plus salt and oregano juices).

• Salt diffuses the direct heat of the coals, while creating a miniature kiln. In doing so, it gives the beef a texture almost like sous vide filet. Instead of a bullseye leading from a rare center to a charred crust, you get an extended radius of medium rare, tender all the way to its well-seasoned edges.

• Not least of all, there's the "dramatic and visceral thrill of taking this thing that looks like a cast on a broken arm, cracking it open tableside, and there's this beautiful piece of meat inside," as Raichlen describes it.

You should know that you will lose a dish towel to the flames. But think of it as cleansing, an opportunity to ceremoniously burn your mangiest rag. Or, as described on this blog, use the leg of an old pair of jeans instead.

I'm tempted to advise against substituting cheesecloth, the most disposable of kitchen fabrics, because when we tried, the cloth was so flimsy that it burned away in large patches. But the salt crust held and the beef was still perfect. So if you want to spare your towels (and your jeans), you can use cheesecloth -- just don't disturb it till the crust has solidified.

This all seems quite a lot to commit to. Beef tenderloin isn't cheap. A practice run could set you back a good $25. As much as you want to be the badass pitmaster taming the burning log of meat, you're probably secretly terrified that you will bust open the salt to find only a well-done lump of smoldering disappointment and failure. Good news: You have insurance. You can push an instant-read thermometer through the salt crust to be certain.

Taking such precaution will only make you a little less of a caveman. But your guests will have turned into wolves by now, and forgotten all about it.

Got a genius recipe to share -- from a classic cookbook, an online source, or anywhere, really? Please send it my way (and tell me what's so smart about it) at [email protected].

Photos by James Ransom

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I'm an ex-economist, ex-Californian who moved to New York to work in food media in 2007. Dodgy career choices aside, I can't help but apply the rational tendencies of my former life to things like: recipe tweaking, digging up obscure facts about pizza, and deciding how many pastries to put in my purse for "later."

My grandparents used this technique for brisket, pork, and turkey for an annual Model T barbecue they hosted for several years. They dug a pit with a backhoe, filled it full of mesquite (property in Wickenburg, AZ) and burned it to coals (took all night). The next day they took the seasoned meat, wrapped it in foil, then in burlap, and closed it up with bailing wire. Then they dropped the packages down onto the coals with a hook. After that, they'd pull a large sheet of steel over the pit and cover the sheet with dirt (backhoe/bucket loader required). Several hours later they'd feed several hundred people. It was fantastic. Thanks for sharing this - nice to know you can do it on a much smaller scale!

Made this for family for Christmas Eve - and yes - everyone was waiting for a disaster as they witnessed the charred dish towels - it was FABULOUS! I did a larger tenderloin on a gas grill and cut it into two pieces (total 3#). Took about 10-12 minutes longer in total. Will make this again, thanks!

I cooked this the other night, right after seeing the article! WoW! Absolutely delicious and will go into high rotation on my BBQ. The only slight downside is that you don't get the caramelization on the meat that you would get from searing it, although the rest of the texture and taste is really terrific!

Has anyone tried to scale this recipe up and go it on a whole center cut fillet? Any change in cooking times, etc?

My friend and I "ruined" a dish towel with this process a few years ago. You'll want to have a stack of throw-away dish towels just for this procedure. Make sure it's thick because it will burn through easily. It's so much fun to prepare, sit around the fire pit sipping your favorite concoction and watching it burn, and then devour. We made small slits in the tenderloin and stuffed them with garlic. I'm thinking next time stuffed with garlic and fresh jalapeno. Can't wait for fall!